As I have
mentioned previously in several articles it is often difficult to decide on
what to write about and, often as not, some birding event occurs that conveniently
provides me with a topic for the week.So it happened for this article.

My wife and
I had gone to Saskatoon
one day and upon our return in the late afternoon of the following day I
glanced out the window to check on the bird life in our backyard when I noticed
a rather large bird sitting on the rail of our arbour partially obscured by a
feeder.One look through binoculars and
we quickly realized that it was an owl, but what kind?

I
frantically took a series of pictures which turned out quite sharp considering
the time of day and the heavily overcast skies.I got out several field guides and compared the pictures in the book to
the ones in my camera but, even so confusion reigned.We could not decide whether it was a Short
Eared Owl or a Hawk Owl.However, by
examining all physical, migratory and habitat details we determined that it was
neither one of the two, rather, it was a Boreal Owl which was a lifer for the
two of us.

The ten
inch long Boreal Owl is our second smallest owl next in size to our smallest
owl, the eight inch long Saw Whet Owl.(See
article No. 132).In terms of field
marks the Boreal is a larger and greyer version of its smaller and browner
cousin the Saw Whet.Both are very tame
and can be approached closely before taking flight.The one big difference is that the Saw Whet
is migratory and flies south for the winter whereas the Boreal is a year round
resident of the Boreal Forest occasionally irrupting a little south during
severe winters as this one had done.The much larger and better known Snowy Owl
does much the same.

One of the
reasons we had so much trouble identifying this owl is that it appeared to be
too large for a Boreal.Sitting on the
rail it looked crow-sized which is way oversized for a Boreal Owl but, after
studying it for awhile and comparing its size to that of a nearby feeder we
realized that it was not so big after all.Its short tail, very large head and fluffy body distorted its size
giving it the impression of a much larger bird.

After I had
taken a sufficient number of pictures my wife went out to fill the feeders at
which point we expected the owl to fly away as soon as the door opened but the
owl stayed put until my wife was about five feet away.What was somewhat comical is that my wife was
talking to the owl as she approached it and the owl seemed to be
listening.What was even more unusual is
that a short time later, after the sun had set, my wife and I were having a hot
tea in our solarium when the owl flew up near the window, landed on a snow
covered cedar and proceeded to observe us with apparent interest.It did not sit for very long but long enough
for us to get a good view of it from a different angle.This time the owl looked much smaller than it
did before thus confirming our identification
of it as a Boreal Owl.With the lights
on inside and the darkness outside getting a picture of it was impossible.

I am
including three different poses of the owl as it sat on the railing.Even in
black and white it can be identified with the help of a bird book.